2023 Kia Forte

Unknown. During a basic collision Avoidance maneuver performed by myself on the highway at speed of aprox 60MPH the steering suddenly became non-responsive, resulting in my inability to maintain directional control and cause a collision. The vehicle continued traveling before coming to its final resting position. During this sequence, the driver-side front suspension assembly sustained a catastrophic separation before the impact The steering knuckle was no longer attached to the vehicle, the strut was broken, and the driver-side wheel/tire ultimately ended up underneath the vehicle when the vehicle finally come to a stop . During the event The driver-side axle shaft completely detached and somehow come out of the transaxle housing and was found a significant distance back along the roadway, a great distance back before the initial impact . indicating that it separated before the vehicle reached its final resting position. It is in my strongest opinion the maneuver itself could have potentially been cause of the catastrophic event. And is potentially why I could not maintain complete complete control of vehicle the whole time.

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Forte. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to be restarted. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 25,000.

Catastrophic clutch pressure plate failure - while attempting to shift into gear, teeth on clutch pressure plate sheared horizontally when interacting with input shaft. No indicators appeared when failure originally occurred, only grinding sound when clutch pedal is depressed. Malfunction occurred at a stoplight leading to traffic blockage and no major safety risk. However due to nature of failure if issue occurred at speed there would have been immediate loss of power from engine to drivetrain, causing car to "coast" in effectively neutral until stopped. Vehicle has since been inspected and serviced with appropriate parts replaced by Kia certified technician at a dealer. Failure point was unable to be verified at the time and unknown if able to be replicated.

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Forte. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, another vehicle was driving on the incorrect side of the road coming towards the contact head-on. While attempting to avoid crashing into the other vehicle, the contact swerved over to the side of the road and drove downhill. The contact then heard a loud thud, and the vehicle became undriveable. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch assembly needed to be placed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.